susan and rose
by Leli1013
Summary: Three times Rose reminds him of Susan and one time that Susan reminds him of Rose. Spoilers for everything up to "Tooth and Claw".


Author's Note: My obsession with Bad Wolf!Rose continues.

Disclaimer: Still not mine.

1. After the incident with the Slitheen in Downing Street, the Doctor learns that Rose likes to dance. He finds her dancing along to a radio he jiggery-poked for her in her room. He watches her bop her head and swing her hips and wave her arms in such a way that he is immediately reminded of Susan.

Susan, when she was not much younger than Rose is now; dancing the same steps to the same melody but different voice.

It is the first time since the war that he thinks of her and smiles.

"_Come dance with me, Grandfather. I'm sure you can learn how," she asked, extending her arm with a wolfish grin._

"_I'm sorry, my dear, but I mush see to the radiation sensor before we can land anywhere."_

He is older now, but not much wiser.

"Dance with me, Doctor?" Rose asks, extending her arm with stars in her eyes.

"I'm sorry, Rose, but I've got to fix the stabilizer before we can land anywhere."

Rose makes sure he remembers how to dance before the end.

2. The Doctor has always known how Rose takes her tea- milk, two sugars, and a biscuit stick to stir with – he just doesn't it notice until after they watch her father die and spend an hour apologizing to each other.

He watches her intently as she moves about the TARDIS galley with red eyes and practiced ease. When she finally sits beside him she sighs softly, dipping a chocolate biscuit into her tea and turning it like a key in a lock.

There is something in her sigh and the turn of her writ that reminds him of his granddaughter.

"_Susan, why do you do that? Turn your biscuits in your tea in such a strange way?" he asked._

"_I'm not sure, Grandfather," she answered. "I remember watching a blonde woman drink her tea this way when I was very small. I must have learned it from her."_

Years later, the Doctor is still curious.

"Rose, why do you do that – dip your biscuits and turn 'em like that?" he asks.

"I don't know, Doctor," she answers. "I remember watching my Gran going this when I was really little. Cousin Mo says I take after her."

The Doctor fails to see the seams.

3. In his tenth body the Doctor finds that he sometimes forgets the age difference between him and Rose. In his previous incarnation he had always been keenly aware of the centuries between them and he had miserably tried to distance himself from her. After the Gamestation, however, he realized that it had all been in vain – Rose had fallen for him and she was far too stubborn to let him protect her.

When he regenerated, the Doctor changed for her – he made himself appear younger and now shamelessly holds her hand wherever they go. People don't make comments when they go out for chips and Jackie doesn't call him a "dirty old man" anymore.

Sometimes, though, he forgets that Rose is only twenty years old but he is constantly reminded when he takes her back to the estate. It is always something someone says; Jackie or Mickey or a neighbor or, in this case, a visiting aunt. And there is something in Rose's eyes that reminds him of Susan.

Susan, before the Daleks and the War.

"_Susan, why are you wearing that blouse so short? I can see your bellybutton!" Barbara told her. "I believe you should show some modesty instead of your stomach."_

"_I'm sorry, Barbara, but its just so warm outside," Susan explained, trying to cover the offending sliver of exposed skin._

It is a scene that is played out again and again.

"Rose, why are you wearing your shirt so short? I can see your bellybutton!" Great-Aunt Beth exclaims. "Girls these days should be showing modesty instead of skin."

"I'm sorry, Aunt Beth, its just so hot outside," Rose explained, trying to cover the offensive skin.

Sometimes, when he remembers, the Doctor forgets the details.

4. There are times when Rose reminds him so much of Susan that he finds it hard to believe that they had never met. It could be a look in her eye or a wave of her hand, and, sometimes, the memories bubble up for no apparent reason at all.

"_Susanarosavitch, how in the seven systems did you manage to get so many leaves into your hair? There's barely even a hint of a breeze out there!" his mother said in exasperation as she pulled her blue sleeves back and began to pick the silver leaves out of her great-granddaughter's hair. "I swear, if I didn't know any better, I'd say there was something of the wolf about her."_

_Five year old Susan met his eyes and giggled._

"I still can't believe they're werewolves!" Rose giggles as she picks a brown leaf out of her hair.

"Well, believe it, Dame Rose," he says with a smile.

Rose opens her mouth to say something but quickly closes it and plays with the leaf in her hand.

"What is it, Rose?"

"When I was in that cellar with the Host, it said something to me. I didn't think too much about it at first, but now I think it might mean something."

He starts to worry a little. "What did it say to you?"

Rose bites her lip and says, "That there was something of the wolf about me."

For a second the windows and doors in the Doctor's mind align and, like a ray of sunlight, a though filters through. He plays with it for a moment before it burns out and a small part of him begins to hope for impossibilities.

A/N2: I know this wasn't my best work, but please be kind if you review.


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